So soon, however, as he perceived that things were in readiness, he stepped quickly into the wagon, and at this moment he appeared to shrink, but instantly elevating his head with firmness he said, "It will be but a momentary pang," and taking from his pocket two white handkerchiefs, the provost-marshal, with one, loosely pinioned his arms, and with the other, the victim, after taking off his hat and stock, bandaged his own eyes with perfect firmness, which melted the hearts and moistened the cheeks, not only of his servant, but of the throng of spectators. If  André was disguised to look like a spy, he would be captured as a spy. Jameson sent General George Washington the six sheets of paper carried by André, but he was unwilling to believe that Benedict Arnold could be guilty of treason. All that remained were the final details. All were honoured in the names of counties in Ohio, and in 1853 a monument was erected to their memory on the place where they captured André. For more Turn videos: http://goo.gl/3cTVYC. Pausing to secure more aid, Peterson and Sherwood headed to Fort Lafayette at Verplanck's Point to request cannons and ammunition from their commander Col. James Livingston. See the Letter:  John André Letter to Henry Clinton, September 29, 1780, HOURS FOR RESEARCHERS  Meanwhile, Arnold received the letter, and just missing having breakfast with Washington, who had not gotten his letter yet, fled for the Vulture and British safety. André was an important general to the British and the loss of him was felt strongly. During the early days of the American Revolution, well before Independence was declared by the Colonies on July 4, 1776, André was captured at Fort Saint-Jean by Continental General Richard Montgomery in November 1775, and held prisoner at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. While waiting and standing near the gallows, I observed some degree of trepidation; placing his foot on a stone, and rolling it over and choking in his throat, as if attempting to swallow. The principal guard officer, who was constantly in the room with the prisoner, relates that when the hour of execution was announced to him in the morning, he received it without emotion, and while all present were affected with silent gloom, he retained a firm countenance, with calmness and composure of mind. Andre was arrested and hanged as a spy in New York on 2nd October 1780 and buried there. A pension was awarded by the British to his mother and three sisters not long after his death, and his brother William André was made a baronet in his honour in 1781 (see André baronets). They both believed that André would not see any more Americans past this point and that he would safely make it to the British lines. At the time, Andre was an up-and-coming figure in the British forces, under the command of General William Howe. "The lower party," replied André, meaning the British. None of these men knew Arnold's purpose or suspected his treason; all were told that the purpose was to do good for the patriot cause. Grey's descendants returned Franklin's portrait to the United States in 1906, the bicentennial of Franklin's birth. André told the court that he had neither desired nor planned to be behind American lines. A relief on the front shows Washington receiving Andre’s petition for death by firing squad, while Andre is led off for execution. Arnold met André on the shore near Haverstraw, NY and they went back to Smith’s house, behind American lines, to talk. John Andrewas executed by hanging on October 2, 1780, at the age of 30. He was hanged as a spy by the Continental Army for assisting Benedict Arnold's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York, to the British. He then told them that he was a U.S. officer and showed them his passport, but the suspicions of his captors were now aroused. The United States Congress gave each of them a pension of $200 a year and a silver medal, known as the Fidelity Medallion. A major in the British army, he was held in esteem as an officer and a … He was a prolific writer who carried on much of General Henry Clinton's correspondence, the British Commander-in-Chief of British armies in America. Thirty-year-old British Major John Andre is hanged as a spy by U.S. military forces in Tappan, New York, on October 2, 1780. In that respect, André’s death truly is unfortunate. When Washington read the letter, he asked for the Court of Inquiry to study the incident and decide whether André was acting as a spy. Born on 2nd May 1750, he was captured following a meeting with Benedict Arnold. André was born on 2 May 1750 in London to wealthy Huguenot parents Antoine André, a merchant from Geneva, Switzerland, and Marie Louise Girardot from Paris, France. I have just witnessed his exit. He was briefly engaged to Honora Sneyd. He was 45. Arnold commanded West Point and had agreed to surrender it to the British for £20,000 (approximately $3.65 million in 2018[3])—a move that would have enabled the British to cut off New England from the rest of the colonies. Would you like to receive our monthly email newsletter? An eyewitness account of André's last day can be found in the book The American Revolution: From the Commencement to the Disbanding of the American Army Given in the Form of a Daily Journal, with the Exact Dates of all the Important Events; Also, a Biographical Sketch of the Most Prominent Generals by James Thacher, M.D., a surgeon in the American Revolutionary Army: October 2d.-- Major André is no more among the living. 2, 1780) was a British intelligence officer during the American Revolution. Major Andre is no more among the living. Major John André (May 2, 1750 – October 2, 1780) was a British Army officer hanged as a spy by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War for assisting Benedict Arnold 's attempted surrender of the fort at West Point, New York to the British. They searched him and found Arnold's papers in his stocking. The Colquhon brothers who were commanded by Benedict Arnold to bring André from the sloop-of-war Vulture to shore, as well as Major Keirs, under whose supervision the boat was obtained, were exonerated from all suspicion. He was dressed in his royal regimentals and boots, and his remains, in the same dress, were placed in an ordinary coffin, and interred at the foot of the gallows; and the spot was consecrated by the tears of thousands...[18]. He and Peggy met often in social settings and were believed to be particularly close. André's defense was that he was suborning an enemy officer, "an advantage taken in war" (his words). By morning the meeting was over, but the Vulture had moved up river, having been fired upon by the Americans. André went up the Hudson River on the British sloop-of-war Vulture on Wednesday, 20 September 1780 to visit Arnold. John André Letter to Henry Clinton, September 29, 1780, Next Story: Ann Bates [Undated/Unsigned Manuscript regarding Ann Bates]. John Andre -- handsome, artistic, beloved by the Loyalists, admired by Washington... a spy brave and cunning... convinced Benedict Arnold to sell out West Point... hanged at age 31. Not a murmur or a sigh ever escaped him, and the civilities and attentions bestowed on him were politely acknowledged. [16], A religious poem was found in his pocket after his execution, written two days beforehand.[17]. Extracted from A Military Journal During the American Revolutionary War, From 1775 to 1783 Source: John André 1193314 An Account of Andre's Death James Thatcher Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-52. British spy, Major John Andre, is sentenced to death . However, I was struck by the deep and controlling relationship between Andre and his mother as well as the 1770 love triangle that caused the family considerable embarrassment. On 29 September 1780, the board found André guilty of being behind American lines "under a feigned name and in a disguised habit" and ordered that "Major André, Adjutant-General to the British Army, ought to be considered as a Spy from the enemy, and that agreeable to the law and usage of nations, it is their opinion, he ought to suffer death. Capture of Major John André, by A. C. Warren (artist), 1856. While they were gone, a small boat furnished by Arnold was steered to the Vulture by Joshua Hett Smith. With the capture of John André and his death by hanging, part of the history of the 3d Dragoons comes to an end. Arnold escaped, but André was  to be tried as a spy. "We do," was the answer. The Trial and Death of Major Andre. By appointment only [26], The names of André's captors were John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wert. Please see our full announcement here. If anyone in the countryside had realized he was British they would have reported him. Peggy Shippen, wife of the infamous traitor Benedict Arnold, conspired with her husband to undermine the American colonists’ fight for independence from Great Britain. John André Letter to Henry Clinton, September 29, 1780. In April of that year, he took charge of British Secret Service in America. Some hours later, Washington received the explanatory information from Maj. Tallmadge and immediately sent men to arrest Arnold, but it was too late. John had one brother, William Louis, and three sisters. André was not happy with these circumstances, and when it was decided that Smith would help lead André toward the British, André began to see himself as a prisoner and decided it was best for him to change out of his uniform and be disguised for the trip. The fate of Major André : a letter from Alexander Hamilton to John Laurens by Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804; Laurens, John, 1754-1782. In this role he continued the negotiations with Benedict Arnold, which had been in progress since 1778. There, as the verdict was decided that André was acting as a spy by going behind enemy lines and disguising his uniform, he wrote a courageous letter, dated September 29, 1780, to his Commander, General Henry Clinton. During his nearly nine months in Philadelphia, André occupied Benjamin Franklin's house, from which it has been claimed that he removed several valuable items on the orders of Major-General Charles Grey when the British left Philadelphia, including an oil portrait of Franklin by Benjamin Wilson. The brothers finally agreed to row after threats by Arnold to arrest them. It was his earnest desire to be shot, as being the mode of death most conformable to the feelings of a military man, and he had indulged the hope that his request would be granted. He was promoted to captain in the 26th Foot on 18 January 1777, and to major in 1778. They picked up André and placed him on shore. [4] From their position at Teller's Point they began to assail the Vulture and a longboat associated with it with rifle and musket fire. To help out, Arnold  wrote some passes, using the disguised name of “John Anderson,” for André to get back to safety. To aid André's escape through U.S. lines, Arnold provided him with civilian clothes and a passport which allowed him to travel under the name John Anderson. The trial lasted four weeks and ended in acquittal for lack of evidence. André wanted the final meeting to be in public, so that he would not have to take any unnecessary risk. Become a Clements Library Associate by making a donation today. Around 9 am that morning though, he was stopped in neutral territory, near Tarrytown, by some militia men. [1] He was educated at St Paul's School, Westminster School, and in Geneva. Arnold's Loyalist wife Peggy Shippen was one of the go-betweens in the correspondence. There, Arnold gave André papers of West Point, which revealed the placement of troops and other compromising information. John André and Abe Woodhull face the consequences of espionage. John Andretti, the retired NASCAR and IndyCar driver, has died at the age of 56. I have just witnessed his exit. Unfortunately, Ronald did not provide much detail. His breakfast being sent to him from the table of General Washington, which had been done every day of his confinement, he partook of it as usual, and having shaved and dressed himself, he placed his hat upon the table, and cheerfully said to the guard officers, "I am ready at any moment, gentlemen, to wait on you." By the next year (1780), he had briefly taken part in Clinton's invasion of the South, starting with the siege of Charleston, South Carolina. In the poem, André muses on his foiling of a foraging expedition in Bergen across the Hudson from the city. Therefore, he had to relent for the evening. John Andre was born into a wealthy Swiss family in London in 1750. What is interesting about the story of John Andre is that he didn’t die in battle; he was actually hanged as a spy by the Americans when he tried to gain their surrender at West Point, New York. At first, all went well for André since post commandant Lieutenant Colonel John Jameson decided to send him to Arnold, never suspecting that a high-ranking hero of the Revolution could be a turncoat. "What party?" He lived in the home of Caleb Cope, enjoying the freedom of the town, as he had given his word not to escape. On the morning of 22 September, the two American patriots, Peterson and Sherwood launched a two-hour cannonade on the Vulture, which sustained many hits and was forced to retire down river. William Hamilton (1751-1801) delin, John Goldar (1729-1795) sculp. André has been portrayed several times in film and television: by Michael Wilding as an eloquent and dignified idealist in the 1955 Hollywood film The Scarlet Coat; by JJ Feild in the TV series Turn: Washington's Spies; by Eric Joshua Davis in the TV series Sleepy Hollow; and by John Light in the movie "Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor". André rode on in safety until 9 a.m. on 23 September, when he came near Tarrytown, New York,[clarification needed] where armed militiamen John Paulding, Isaac Van Wart, and David Williams stopped him.[9][10]. After a court martial composed of senior generals of the Continental Army, Major John Andre, who had been captured on a mission to Major General Benedict Arnold who was about to betray West Point to the British, was executed on October 2, 1780. Now hangs in the British but was unaware of who it was a intelligence... Faculty, students, and Isaac Van Wert moved up river, been. 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